 |
|
 |
| Take-off to the south-west is directly towards the Allantic. |
|
The South Wales contest location can be very muddy. |
 |
|
 |
| All equipment/antennas are transported by G3WVG/m. |
|
Two locals look on in amusement at the spectacle. |
Ian G3WVG writes :
At this stage in the eleven year sunspot cycle LF conditions are unlikely to be excellent. That was the case this year, propagation not good but fortunately not too bad. USA stations were not as strong as in 2022 and I didn’t work any Far East stations. However, I managed to increase my USA total this year. By the way the stand out signal from North America was VO2AC. Perhaps not surprising because he was the closest!
Signals from the USA peaked about an hour before my sunrise. Including several from the West Coast.
I entered the Assisted section because I don’t like to miss anything. The pile-ups whenever a DX station appeared were huge and relentless. The constant (non-listening) callers were a menace. I hope I wasn’t one of them!
Putting on a competitive 160m contest station from scratch by yourself is physically demanding. But it was helped this year by low winds and no rain. It took me two days to erect a top loaded vertical with 2000m of radials, a K9AY, with 200m of control cable, a Beverage and 450m of coaxial cable.
The farmer who owns the field wanted to know if "this was a hobby or some kind of punishment". He had a point!
I have operated several CQWW-160 and CQWW-CW contests from this excellent location on the coast of Wales. Hope to see you again from MW5B.
 |
|
| QSOs were made by Ian G3WVG during every hour of darkness throughout the CQWW 160m Contest. |
|
| DXCC |
QSOs |
|
DXCC |
QSOs |
| W |
369 |
|
EU |
16 |
| DL |
262 |
|
OE |
14 |
| RA |
72 |
|
F |
13 |
| OK |
69 |
|
LA |
13 |
| SP |
62 |
|
ON |
13 |
| I |
60 |
|
YO |
12 |
| G |
56 |
|
GM |
11 |
| S5 |
41 |
|
LZ |
9 |
| PA |
37 |
|
EI |
8 |
| SM |
30 |
|
OZ |
8 |
| OH |
28 |
|
E7 |
7 |
| VE |
28 |
|
YL |
7 |
| UR |
27 |
|
CT |
5 |
| EA |
24 |
|
EA6 |
5 |
| 9A |
23 |
|
PY |
5 |
| HA |
23 |
|
GW |
4 |
| LY |
21 |
|
LX |
4 |
| OM |
20 |
|
SV |
4 |
| HB |
18 |
|
UA9 |
4 |
| YU |
18 |
|
CT3 |
3 |
The table shows the Top-40 DXCC countries worked with countries outside Europe being highlighted. With some 397 W/VEs worked this year, this South Wales location again works well for North America.
In comparison, last year (2022) there were just 250 W/VEs worked. A big increase in North American QSOs in CQWW-160 in 2023!
 |
|
| Continental Breakdown : Europe 71.0%, North America 26.9%, Asia 0.7%, South America 0.6%, Oceania 0.1% and Africa 0.5%. |
|
 |
|
 |
| MW5B :1,458 net QSOs in 71 DXCC and 48 W/VE Mults. |
|
W/VE Mults : 48 was better than the 38 W/VE made in 2022. |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Sheep are plentiful at this location. |
|
Many radials were laid on the ground. |
|
Red Bull boosts flagging contesters. |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| 18m top-loaded vertical for 160m. |
|
The 18m pole stands in soggy ground. |
|
Sheep dog keeps the sheep in check. |
|
| |